


Color My Thoughts

by fairyalchemist



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Nerdiness, Romance, Science, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 02:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7739398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairyalchemist/pseuds/fairyalchemist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Synopsis: Lucy Heartfilia’s junior year of high school has just begun and she has decided to ditch. There’s nothing better than staying home and catch a movie or two. Right? Much to her dismay, her mom’s cell phone derails her plans and Lucy tries to get herself out of the impending poop storm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hummingbirds and Popcorn

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Progressive. Rating may change, who knows? This story is a modern take on Nalu. High school sucked for me, so I’m hoping to make them suffer a little before they get to be happy.

It was the first day of her junior year of senior high and Lucy Heartfilia had already made a terrible calculation. She was good at many things, like math and science, but clairvoyance was definitely not on that list. Pity.

“Lucy, what are you doing? You’re supposed to be at school!” Layla, her mother screamed at her from the other side of the sidewalk.

Shit! She had been caught! Lucy froze in place as her mother made her way across the street. Every now and then, Lucy would decide to ditch school for a quieter environment, like home or the library.

She preferred to stay home and read books all day rather than go to school and have to deal with all the idiots there.

Lucy even had a ritual. Her usual ditch days were Mondays. Luckily for her, the first day of the school year always fell on a Monday, and Lucy hated Mondays with the fire of a thousand Alpha Centauris.

If this were any other year of high school she would be a good student and actually attend today. But her head had throbbed in pain, like a truck had hit her, when she had woken up this morning. All the result of two hours of sleep brought on by an incessant need to worry about nothing and everything. The day before the start of a new year was always anxiety inducing and Lucy hated it.

She hated worrying about the cost of books and uniforms and school supplies and P.E clothes and lunch tickets and basically anything on the planet.

It didn’t help that her mom was a cashier at Easy Buy, a local supermarket about three miles from where they lived. Though she was a veteran of the store, she didn’t make much and it bugged Lucy to think about it.

Financial troubles always loomed over them like those stupid stalker clouds in the depression pill commercials. It also didn’t help that her mom wouldn’t tell her about anything pertaining to money. Only a ‘don’t worry about it’ or ‘you’re too young to be thinking about those things’ were all she ever got from her.

On school days, her mom usually went to work at eight in the morning, only thirty minutes after Lucy left for school. When she didn’t feel like going, Lucy would wait at the little park a block away, pretending she’d be on her way, and then return when the apartment was clear.

She’d then sneak back into their apartment to enjoy relaxing solitude. Today had gone by just like any other of those days, but Lucy had not taken into account that Layla could have forgotten something and walked back to pick it up.

_If it can happen it will._

“Oh shit!” She forgot to focus on her mother, who was at the moment, and to her dismay, storming after her across the street. With nowhere to go, Lucy made up her mind to give up and let her mom do what she usually did, which was give her a lecture on why school was important and blah blah blah.

“Lucy!” Layla half screamed and half gasped at her daughter.

“Yes, mom…”

“Isn’t it your first day of junior year? Wasn’t this supposed to be a day you can’t skip? What in the world are you doing here? I swear to the gods, if I wasn’t running late for work I’d drag you there myself.” Her mother sighed as she made her way inside the apartment to grab her cell phone.

“Sorry, mom.” Lucy weakly said as she followed her mom inside. “I’ll go tomorrow, I promise.”

“Don’t you like school? Your teachers seemed nice when I met them at the orientation two weeks ago.” She gasped at her daughter. “Is someone bullying you?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. Don’t worry about it.” Lucy tried to placate her mother’s worrying. She had enough to worry about without Lucy’s stupid teenage drama on top. Besides, it wasn’t that school was so not boring per se, it was the people there that made it uncomfortable and annoying. Socializing was not in Lucy’s list of skills, and it was always something she tried to work on but continually failed to hone.

She had failed that time her only high school friend at the time had blown her off a few months ago for a boy.

And the time she had blundered her way through a nightmare of a school dance before summer vacation.

It had all gone well up until that dance a few months ago when all her efforts blew up in smoke.

When she had met the boy who must not be named.

Trying to shake off that train of unpleasantness, Lucy thought of the teachers she had met since the beginning of senior high. They were nice and actually made the material interesting and fun. It was her peers that Lucy couldn’t stand. A bunch of spoiled and snotty pubescent teenagers, in her opinion. All they cared about was their iPhones, iPods, going out on the weekend, looking like the models in the magazines and knowing who liked who. It all was pretty pathetic.

Sheep. They were all sheep.

Lucy had just about given up trying to find a group that would accept her. She had yet to find people in that school that she liked that could think past the stupid rumor someone had spread about her. It didn’t help that she labeled herself a recluse, a hermit, incapable of speaking coherently to those she didn’t know intimately.

Lucy sighed. Maybe she should join a club or something of that nature to force her to talk to perpetual strangers.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother’s voice. “Lucy you know why it’s important to go to school,” she said with that serious parental tone she was sure every teenager alive had heard at least once. “I can’t afford to pay for your college education and I know you’re still in high school, but if I have to say this every day I will.”

Lucy was only a junior but sometimes she felt older than she really was.

Somewhere along her mother’s lecture, she had stopped paying attention and began looking at the colors of the leaves through their small window, how vivid green they were. Spring had arrived, and with it came daily nose and eye irritations. Allergies were no joke. Flowers were rampant in her neighborhood and to her utter horror, so were insects and spiders.

Her mom had moved them to this small apartment in the outskirts of downtown Magnolia after they had been evicted from their last place when Lucy was in fifth grade.

Their tiny apartment was only one in the ten their building held. To Lucy’s dismay, they were on the second floor, making it a haven for the heat in the summer. She would die of being cooked alive one of these days if they didn’t buy an air conditioner soon.

The twenty or so stairs she had to take every day to get to her house were a constant nuisance because were uneven and made out of some sort of pale granite. She was paranoid that one day they would break and she would fall through and break a bone.

For a big town, Magnolia sure did feel crowded. Smog was a constant problem and the trains around them would sometimes wake her up late at night. She would admit though, that even with all these irritations, one silver lining of this town was that it had two libraries within walking distance from Lucy’s house.

That and the bus system, it was vast and easy to use. She loved to roam around on the weekend to go to the museums nearby and novelty coffee shops.

“Stop ditching or I’ll put your butt in an afterschool program that won’t let you leave until I pick you up, like the one you were in during kindergarden.” Lucy paled at the threat. “Lucy, are you listening?”

“Okay, okay! I’ll stop ditching so much, I swear!” Lucy began laughing for no apparent reason. She wasn’t sure what was so funny but her mother’s stern face probably had something to do with it.

“Are you laughing? Nevermind, you little monster,” her mother said jokingly while opening the door to their apartment. “I forgot my cell phone again. I want you to stay home for the rest of the day or I’ll do what I said earlier. The next time I see you ditching I’m not going to hesitate, you understand?”

“Yes, mom,” Lucy replied with a fake childish groan. Her mom hurried out the door, leaving Lucy alone. She had won today but she had a feeling this was going to be the last day she got away with it for a while.

Lucy spent the rest of her day watching documentaries she had borrowed from the library last week. She liked to watch any subject that interested her. Sometimes they were about the universe and other times they were about animals or history. This time, she had chosen one about hummingbirds.

Glad that her mom hadn’t blown a gasket at her rebelliousness this time, Lucy put some popcorn in the microwave and waited for the kernels to finish popping. This was heaven on Earth, she thought to herself. Tomorrow seemed like a distant dream.


	2. Birds, where?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is definitely not a morning person, she knows this better than anyone else. However, it seems like the sleepy Lucy doesn't care if she is or not; her snooze button has never faced a better ally. Thanks to her evil snoring self, Lucy has to rush to the second day of school, but before she makes it to class a few obstacles stand in her way and one of them is named Natsu Dragneel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Implied drug and physical abuse. Some curse words sprinkled around for amusement. 
> 
> On a personal note: thanks for reading what little I produce. I really appreciate it (: 
> 
> Shameless self promotion: I'm on tumblr under the same name and put my stuff there as well.

6:30 A.M.

Lucy groaned as her first alarm rang on the highest setting possible. Five alarms in the morning still wasn’t enough to wake her up. She was a hopeless cause. She’ll hate herself for it later but she couldn’t help it. She pressed snooze.

6:45 A.M.

She pressed snooze.

6: 55 A.M.

Snooze.

7:00 A.M.

Damn it! Lucy jumped off her bed like her house was on fire, or more appropriately, her butt or her hair. Hating her sleepy self for making her get up late, she rushed to get ready for school. It was the second day so things would still be hectic. It took at least two weeks for everyone to get settled into their final classes for the semester.

She rushed to her small coffeemaker and pressed the button that fed her life. Mornings were definitely not her ‘thing’ and her mom, a self-proclaimed morning person, still couldn’t understand why her daughter was always cranky before school. Haven save them all if Lucy didn’t drink her coffee in the morning.

Her mornings were always set to a scheduled routine on school days that started with a quick cleaning of her room first, followed by a brief shower after, a coffee and a snack to eat on the way. That had gone out the window when her dumbass had decided to snooze that precious thirty minutes away. School started at 7:30 and her idiot self was going to be late, how embarrassing. She cringed as she thought of all the stares she would get for walking through the doors to homeroom after everyone was in their seats.  

Ugh. It was a disaster. She shouldn’t have stayed awake doing stupid things on her phone. When would she ever learn her lesson?

Lucy made her way to her small living room as she hurried drinking her first cup of coffee. She had put on some jeans and a long sleeved shirt today, too much skin made her uncomfortable, and the weather was going to be fresh. And becoming sick, for fashion’s sake was not in her nature.  

Fall was in the horizon and she couldn’t wait for boots and coats, and better yet, scarves to start appearing in stores.

 

7:15 A.M.

Her mom was watching the news through her door while getting ready. Lucy thought it was nice to know that her days were predictable. Yep. Predictability was nice. It saved lives. _Maybe_.

“Lucy!” Her mother gasped as she realized her daughter hadn’t left for school yet. “You’re going to be late!”

“I know, my bad,” Lucy picked her backpack off a table by the door, a thermos full of java on one hand. “I overslept again, oops.”

“Don’t forget your lunch!” Layla Heartfilia reminded her daughter through her bedroom door. “And your keys!” Was it really her daughter’s junior year of high school? My, time sure went by quickly, she thought as Lucy left for school.

Lucy checked her phone as she started walking. Today would be a hot day again. _Go figure._  It _was_ still July. Hot days were second on her List of Hateful Things.

  
List of Hateful Things:

Number one: Mondays.

Number two: hot days.

Number three: the man who had sired her.

 

She took a sip of her thermos, full of a second helping of java, and almost groaned aloud in satisfaction. Her coffee addiction was getting out of hand. It was hard for Lucy to stop, was she embarrassed about it? Maybe a little. _Well at least you’re not doing drugs._  

Ever since number three had left them when she was in eighth grade because of his multiple drug addictions, she had promised not to do hardcore drugs. In all honesty, she thought it best that he wasn’t in her life. Her mother had cried too much for him and even though he was her biological father, Lucy didn’t really want to think about him anymore.

Number three had been with her mother on and off ever since they had met. Layla had been in her second year of college when she started dating him. After three months of being together, Layla had become pregnant with Lucy.

Lucy could only imagine all the things Layla had gone through for her. Her mom never really talked about her past. Lucy wish she did, but being her daughter didn’t give her an advantage. Lucy knew that Layla was only trying to protect her and she respected that. Little did her mom know, she had guessed what had been going on after she had done research online and it had made her feel a mix of many things, some she couldn’t’ understand even now.

For most of Lucy’s earlier childhood number three had been there. She remembered him actually hugging her and loving her like a proper father would. Lucy never understood what happened to change that man so much. Every time she asked her mom about it, she wouldn’t get the answers she wanted. After years of looking for an explanation, Lucy finally gave up and let it go. The only thing she knew was that by the time she started middle school, number three had never been the same again.

Her parent’s relationship had been an emotional rollercoaster. She would always hear them fighting when they thought she wasn’t around. It had made her cry a lot in the beginning. After a while, Lucy learned to steer clear of them when they had their arguments. The only solace she found when that happened was in books, documentaries, and movies. 

Her new life with her mom was worth more than her relationship with number three. Her mom had always been there for her. Their bond was closer than it had ever been before.

_He had decided to leave for his stupid addiction. Good riddance._

 Deciding to not think any more about that personal shit-storm, Lucy checked her watch.

 

7:20 A.M

Crap. She had ten minutes to get to school and about a mile to go. Accepting the inevitable, she picked up the pace. If she was going to be late, it wouldn’t be more than five minutes late if _she_ had anything to say about it.

About a block from school the worse that could happen to any student in a hurry to get to class happened to her. It had all started while crossing a street, she had somehow misjudged the height of a curb and tripped on it in the sidewalk.

With nothing to grab a hold onto, her precious coffee spilled on her clothes and the thermos fell onto the concrete below, breaking on impact. _Damn it!_

Lucy then rushed to pick up the broken shards of her favorite thermos but just as she was done putting the pieces in the trash, a bird flew over her head. She didn’t register the _plop_ until after she stood up from picking up the shards. Her hair felt a little wet. _Odd_.

She touched her hair and groaned in disgust as she realized the white and green gunk had really been bird poop. _Why was this happening to her_?

_Calm down! Calm down! It’s just bird poop, how bad can it really be? You’ve had worse. You can do this. Don’t think about anything, just walk!_

With her head full of bird poop and her clothes stained with coffee, Lucy walked as fast as she could. Only a few more blocks to go.

She passed a few elementary school kids on her way. They looked so carefree and adorable. Lucy didn’t like little kids most days, but sometimes they got through her defenses.

She put her head at an awkward angle so as not to let them see the gross stain on her hair, the last thing she needed was a tiny six year old making fun of her.

 _Finally!_ The last bell rang as the main building appeared ahead in her field of vision. Her watch said it was 7:30 A.M. Lucy made a run for it, if she was quick, she could make it to class in five minutes since it was on the second floor of the main building itself.

All the tardy students who had resigned themselves to being late walked at a snail pace in front of her. It was frustrating trying to maneuver around the balls of idiot teenagers. She pushed her way through, the sidewalk was too narrow to let more than five people walk shoulder to shoulder. She assumed, by the height of many of them, that there were more seniors than freshmen in this horde.

This was getting frustrating, there was shit on her hair, coffee in her shirt and everyone was walking like they had nowhere to go!

She almost screamed as she neared the entrance. There. It was only a few meters away.

“Would you guys hurry up!” She shouted to someone to her right and failed to notice that a huge blob of mass had suddenly stopped right in front of her.

She slammed into the blob with enough force to make her ribs start to ache. It wasn’t a blob, it was a guy.

Correction, a blob-guy. No, an idiot blob-guy.

_What an idiot! Why did he suddenly stop?_

“Hey, Natsu!” A girl’s screeches could be heard on the opposite side of the sidewalk. “Wait for me, sweety!” The guy Lucy had bumped into ignored the squeals and suddenly turned around to face her. Could this day start any worse?

“What the hell?!” Natsu, a candidate for number four in Lucy’s list, told her with an irritated stare.

Natsu was tied with loud noises on her list, but if she was honest with herself, she couldn’t tell the difference between the two from the brief time she had known him.

Did her remember who she was? Probably not. What a relief that was…yet she couldn’t help but feel a tad insulted he didn't recognize her.  

“Watch where you’re walking, you dumbass!” Lucy told him with even more irritation than he had shown her. It wasn’t her fault she had pushed him. His sudden stop had caught her off guard and she already had enough unfortunate events happen to her this morning.

“You’re the one who bumped into me!” He looked around as if looking for an escape. “I know I’m desirable, but you didn’t have to hint it by rubbing yourself against me… jeez!”

“I wouldn’t have bumped into you if you hadn’t stopped like that!” Her mind felt slow as she thought of what he just said and she gasped at its implication. She pushed his chest with her finger, his nearness was making her even more irritated. “Who the hell said you were desirable? I sure didn’t. You pervert!”

Of all the idiots in the school, this one had to be the one to be in her way. Typical.

Exasperated beyond belief, Lucy sighed as she took a step back from him.

“Do I know you?” He asked her as he stared at her face. “You look familiar…”

“No.” She willed him to not look through his own memories of this past summer. “Get out of my way, asshole!” Lucy pushed him hard before she let him have a glimpse at her state of dress. Natsu seeing her with bird shit on her hair and coffee on her clothes, wouldn’t that be hilarious? She almost laughed at the absurdity.

“What did I do?” He asked her as he rolled his eyes, completely ignoring her last remark and gave her a hint of a smirk before walking in the opposite direction, presumably away from the entrance and the girl who had called out to him.

Squealer girl rushed after him but not before giving Lucy a strange face. _What is wrong with her?_ Lucy wondered if she had a screw loose in that head of hers. Honestly, some people had no sense of composure.  

Lucy forgot them as she remembered her task. She made it to the bathroom and saw that a few other girls were in the bathroom as well. Some of them were putting on make-up on their faces while others were straightening their hair. How they had enough time and dedication to their appearance, she would never understand. _What a waste of time…_

She walked to the last sink and grabbed a few paper towel from a dispenser. She quickly rinsed a little soap and water on a couple paper towels and cleaned her hair and her shirt. _This day is just getting better and better_.

After she finished, she made her way out and walked through the halls with a quick pace. As she reached the entrance to her homeroom, she checked her phone again.


	3. Physics and Asshole Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes! Lucy has scored in the teacher raffle and she gets Mr. Jude, her favorite science teacher for Physics. But not all is in her favor when she finds the pink haired idiot in her class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I realized I jumbled up Ana and Layla (oops). To clarify, her mother's name should be Layla. (I'm a terrible FT fan)

 

After getting her schedule from her homeroom teacher, Lucy made her way to her first period.

Honors Physics with Mr. Jude was going to be a piece of cake, she liked him and he was undoubtedly the best science teacher she had ever had.

As she walked to the classroom, Lucy thought of ways she could help her mom out with the rent. If she could convince her counselor that she was ready for a work permit, everything would fall into place.

She was to her seat earlier than the others, as was her habit, and started taking notes before it got loud.

“Hi Lucy!” Juvia, the only person that Lucy would call something resembling a friend came through the door. Juvia looked like a mermaid, she was pretty, almost supernaturally pretty, her long blue hair and big dark eyes reminded Lucy of an artwork she had seen in a museum once. “How was your summer?”

“It was good.” She lied, wishing that Juvia hadn’t gone away with her family for the summer, leaving Lucy on her own.

“I think you’re lying. Anyway, you want to come over my house today, bestie?”

Was that a confession from her? Lucy smiled at her new best friend and hoped she wouldn’t mess up this friendship like she did last time.

“Okay,” she said, glad that at least one person didn’t think of her as the most horrible traitor in existence.

“Oh I forgot to tell you!” Juvia shifted in her seat to talk to the boy behind her, she grabbed his hand and looked at Lucy. “This is my darling Gray. Take care of Lucy for me, okay?”

“Hey,” Gray waved a hand a hand at her.

The couple exchanged a silent look and Lucy glanced away, not wanting to interrupt them.   

Just as the bell rang someone with pink hair blocked the entrance and Lucy’s face paled at the implications. There was only one student with pink hair in this school.

“You’re late, Natsu,” Mr. Jude told him as he took looked for a seat.

_Oh no. Please don’t tell me he’s in this class, why didn’t I hear his name when Jude called out roll? Is he even supposed to be in here?_

“Sorry, teach. I had to get the other guy to sign the slip,” he passed the paper to Mr. Jude. “Where do I get to sit?”

 _Oh no_.

He looked around and, lo and behold, found the only empty seat in the room.... Next to Lucy.

“Mr. Dragneel is our newest transfer student from out of state, so play nice,” he warned his students. “Please take a seat next to Ms. Heartfilia, Natsu. Here is the syllabus, if you don’t get this signed by tomorrow I’ll kick you back to regular Physics, you understand?"

“Yes, sir!” He gave Mr. Jude a fake salute and made his way to his desk.

Was he really a new student? Lucy wondered, he had told her when they had first met that he was a student at her high school, but she hadn’t seen him before then. She guessed it had been a half truth and wondered what other half-truths he had been keeping from her, not that it was any of her business.

She could see he was wearing a white scarf with lines on it. Wasn’t it too hot to be wearing scarves? Honestly, this guy was just a barrel of strange.

She tried to look anywhere but at his face when he sat to her left.

Juvia raised her hand to leave class to speak with her counselor and Lucy paled, the only person she was most familiar with had left her alone to fend for herself. Damn!

“Hi there, Luce.”

Natsu looked at her, the tilt in his voice let her know everything she needed to know and she was angry. Angry that he dared to call her that and that he had actually remembered who she was.

Damn it.

“Don’t call me that,” she told him, her voice full of venom, while she looked at the syllabus, the words and letters spiraled into puddles of ink and her breaths turned shallow as she recalled the last time he had called her ‘Luce’.

“Why not?” He whispered to her, leaning closer, she could smell his faint musky cologne and she almost screamed at this twist of fate.

“Natsu, stop pestering her, asshole.” The guy that sat behind her pushed Natsu back on his seat and Lucy was grateful for the reprieve.

“This has nothing to do with you, Gray.”

“Yes it does, especially when you’re being an asshole to my girl’s good friend."

“What?” Natsu’s mouth opened his mouth like a fish who was trying to solve a complex math equation. “You finally told Juvia you liked her? Man, you’re way below in the game.”

“I’m not a man whore like you, Natsu. I actually think--you know that little idea that can’t go through your brain-- that people have feelings and you’re not the center of the universe, asshole.”

Lucy wasn’t sure what to say to them. She wondered if they were friends now or enemies. Did it even matter? How did they know each other again, weren't they cousins or something?

Just then, Mr. Jude saved her from being forced to say anything as he interrupted their little verbal sparring. “If you don’t mind boys, I’m trying to explain how the grading system is going to work, so pay attention.”

Mr. Jude was a middle aged man with short brown hair and a mustache. He wore patterned sweaters and khaki pants all the time and Lucy sometimes thought he looked like a Christmas tree. The only thing he needed was a star on his head to finish the effect.

  
He was a good teacher, though, Lucy couldn’t complain about that. He knew the material and encouraged her constantly to pursue more knowledge. He had taught her last year for chemistry, and she had become one of his favorite students not just because she did the work, she also looked for things to learn outside of the classwork and homework. 

Mr. Jude passed around a stack of papers to the people in the front row. “Now, I’m giving you this worksheet to fill out during today’s presentation. As you can see on the syllabus, we’ll be covering atoms in detail and physics history and application, and how they connect to the real world.

“This worksheet is a small quiz of what’s inside the syllabus. It’s due by tomorrow so don’t worry if the class seems like too much at first, we’ll take our time on everything we’ll cover.”

After receiving a few groans from the back of the classroom, Mr. Jude added with an amused tone, “You’re in an honors class, so act like it. But if you ever need any help don’t hesitate to ask me or go to the tutoring program after school.”

He finished handing out the worksheet and walked to his desk by the corner of the room. His desk was full of a few odd trinkets and decorations. He had a rock, a snow globe, and a drawing by one of his children in the corner of the desk. The rest of the desk was full of paperwork he had yet to grade.

Before class finished, Lucy wrote down her homework in her student planner, while she waited for Mr. Jude to dismiss them.

While fumbling with her things, she waiting for the pink haired idiot to leave. Was he waiting for her? Damn. But more importantly, why?

They both ended up being the last to leave. If she didn’t hurry she was going to be late and she had heard rumors that Ms. Porlyusica was kind of mean.  

Yep. He was following her. Trying to get rid of her current pest, she ran through the halls and across campus, but he caught up easily to her about midway.

“Lucy, wait!” He grabbed her shoulder and tried to turn her, making her lose her balance and she fell down to the ground, hard.

“Ow! What is it,  _asshole day_?” Lucy rubbed the part on her hip she fallen on as she regained her senses, the pink haired asshole in front of her tried to help her up but she slapped his hand away. “What do you want?”

“I’m…” He was looking around for something, or someone and Lucy was growing more irritated by the second. She was going to be late, all thanks to him. “Look, I…”

“Boo!” A girl pounced on him from out of nowhere, her hair was short and pretty. She looked frail, like a doll, but just as perfect. Lucy recognized her instantly. It had been the same girl who had given her that funny look earlier before school. Her face was flawless, no pimples, no blemishes and Lucy envied her a bit. “I was looking all  _over_  for you!” She hugged Natsu tightly from behind, the difference in their heights was apparent since she couldn’t quite lock her hands on him from that position.

“Hey, Lisanna.” He turned around and hugged his girlfriend and Lucy silently thanked the girl for giving her the perfect opening to leave.

“Wait!” He called out to her from the distance but she ignored him. He would have to wait when hell froze over for her feet to turn around.  

 


	4. P.E.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy takes P.E. with Juvia to find that Ms. Scarlet, otherwise know as the "Scarlet Menace" is not as menacing as people think, at least not on the first day.

Near the end of the first day, Lucy found herself hanging out more with Juvia, they had two more classes, besides Physics, together. History with Mr. Fernandes and P.E. with Ms. Scarlet. 

Lucky for them, they would have wait until the end of the day this whole semester to be tortured by the teacher who was widely known as the ‘Scarlet Menace.’

“I’m scared,” Juvia told Lucy as they changed into the P.E. clothes in the girl’s locker room.

“Don’t worry, we’ll survive.” She reassured her newest friend, wishing she had been closer to her last year. “Besides, we’ll be sitting close to each other and I heard she likes to make everyone team up to play.”

“Oooh, I think that makes me feel a bit better.” She playfully rolled her eyes at Lucy and they both chuckled.

***   ***    ***

 

“Now listen, kids!” Ms Scarlet, a well-toned menacing mountain of a woman screamed at them once the bell had rung some minutes later. She wore athletic gear and a cap with a funny looking symbol on it and Lucy wondered what it was. “Sit your butts down and I’ll be taking roll-call. If I hear so much as a whisper from any one of you, you’ll all be running one lap around the field. Got it?”

No one said a word.

By the time she got to Lucy’s name, the heat from the floor on their butts and the sun above them was starting to dull their heads. Beads of sweat coursed down from their temples, behind their necks, and even their armpits. Their P.E clothes were visibly wet from their sweat and their self-control was dwindling.

 _Cough._ Someone coughed to Lucy’s right.

 _Cough. Cough._ Those came from her left.

The coughs grew louder and just as Ms. Scarlet started to call out the N’s.

“If I hear another cough out of one of you I’m sending you to the field!” She screamed, loud enough to be heard from the people who sat in the back.

A bee buzzed by Lucy’s ear and she couldn’t help but cringe at the sensation.

_“OOOOOHHHHHHHHMMMMMYYYYYYYYGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDD!!!!”_

Lucy groaned at the scream that had doomed them to their deaths.

“It’s a bee! Ms. Scarlet, help!!” Juvia screamed hysterically at the bee that was buzzing around her. “I’m allergic to bees, I can’t be stung by them or I’ll DIE!” She emphasized the death part a little too much for Lucy’s poor ears but she wasn’t allergic to bee stings, so maybe she shouldn’t be so harsh on her friend.

“Stand still and don’t move!” Ms. Scarlet screamed at Juvia. “If you move, it’ll sting!”

After a few minutes, the bee left and the tension of the class could be cut with a knife. No one knew if Ms. Scarlet would make everyone run like she had threatened or not.

“Alright!” She shouted. “Despite the little incident with Ms. Lockser, I’m proud you all held your tongues for the roll call.”

Lucy smiled at Juvia who was seated a couple rows behind her.

“Now since it’s your first day and you all wore your uniforms, I’ll give you all extra credit points but don’t expect this to happen a lot. Make sure you don’t miss the next week since we’re going to be testing you. Now, I brought some basketballs for you, so get to it!”

***    ***    ***

After the school day was over, Lucy made her way to the science building, she wanted to talk to Mr. Jude. He always stayed for an hour after class so that his students could ask him questions or just hang out. 

Making a little detour to the restroom, Lucy walked down the hallway, some people were still roaming around talking to their friends, while others were walked with determination to leave campus as soon as possible.

Lucy made her way to the restroom across Mr. Jude’s class, luckily it didn’t have a line and she could go in and out quickly.

“I can’t believe he did this to me!” A girl screeched from inside and sobbed. Lucy debated whether to wait but decided against it, her bladder wouldn’t let her.

The girl’s back was to her, but she could see her reflection in the mirror, it was Lisanna.

_Damn._

Lisanna sobbed hysterically to her friend as she clenched her hands into fists. “I thought he loved me!”

 _Maybe I should leave…_ Lucy thought.

“Don’t worry about it Lisanna, he wasn’t worth your time, believe me.” Lisanna’s friend rubbed her back as she cried heart wrenching sobs into her shoulders.

  
“But we were so good together Brianna! He even gave me a 24 carat necklace as a present last month for my birthday!” 

“Girl, you gotta throw that thing away or Natsu will haunt your dreams forever.”

Lucy inconspicuously made her way to the stall, making sure the girl didn’t realize who she was. She tried to stay in the stall as long as she could, waiting for Lisanna and her friend to leave, but they were still in there, _ten minutes later_. Honestly, Lucy didn’t know what to do at the spectacle. She felt like an intruder even if they had technically been there after her.

“Lisanna, you have to forget about him. He’s an asshole, you don’t deserve anyone like him.” Brianna tried to console her but it seemed like it only made her sobbing get worse.

As she resigned herself to leave her stall and wash her hands, Lucy tried to look anywhere but at the girls who were in front of one of the sinks. She washed her hands as quickly as she could and started to leave, when Lisanna caught her eye.

“Hey!” She called out to Lucy just as she was at the door.

“Ummm, what?” Lucy tried not to sound menacing, or anything that could be misconstrued by her.

“He’ll break your heart too.” She whispered to Lucy as she wiped her tears and took a deep breath. “Just know, you’re not gonna be the only--”

Lucy didn’t stay hear the rest, she couldn’t.

***    ***    ***

 

“Hey, Mr. Jude.” Lucy called out to him but didn’t get a response.

“Over here!” He finally called out from the tiny supply closet by his room. “Sorry Lucy, but I have a ton of meetings today, so I can’t stay long.”

“That’s okay, I just wanted to ask if you had any more lists of documentaries or books I could look into.”

“Yeah, I actually made a new one for this semester. I’ll give them out to your class next week, but let me see if I can find you a copy really quick.” He looked around through his stacks of files, the supply room had all kinds of office supplies and science lab equipment. “Hmmm… let me see…. Here.”

Lucy grabbed the list and put it in her backpack. “Thanks Mr. Jude.”

“Oh, while you’re still here, let me tell you… Would you be interested in joining a competition this year?”

“Like what?”

“Like a multi subject academic decathlon kind of thing. But with math and science and all that good stuff. It’s called MESCO, we only meet only twice a week after school in this room and sometimes on Saturdays. Have you heard of it?”

MESCO stood for Mathematics Engineering and Science Competition. Most schools in the district had the afterschool program. Lucy had only heard briefly of MESCO some time back, she remembered Mr. Jude mention it at the beginning of the last school year but it hadn’t really stuck in her mind to join. She hadn’t really looked into it that time because she had been swamped with keeping her grades up. _At least it isn’t cheerleading._

“I think I have an idea on what it is, Mr. Jude. Why?”

“We have two open spots this year and I was hoping you could be in the team.”

“Hmmm…” Lucy thought about the idea for a moment. “Let me ask my mom. But do you have more info than that? I don’t want to go in blind—”

“Sure, but just to let you know, the competition has been on campus only for a year, so it’s pretty new and we compete with other schools so it’s pretty competitive.”

"Alright.” He made his way to his desk and grabbed his things and ruffled through his briefcase. He gave her an information pamphlet. "Here's the brochure, there's a link you can go to and see what we do. Now, don’t forget to ask your mom, okay?”

“I won’t.” As they made their way outside the classroom, Lucy saw pink hair coming out of a classroom on the other side of the building. Luckily, he didn’t look their way. The thought of seeing Natsu again rankled her.

 


	5. What happened that night?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened the night Lucy and Natsu met?

 

SUDDEN SERIAL MURDER CALL

It was the last week of her sophomore year and Lucy was at a loss. Summers were always a hit or miss with Lucy, and she didn’t know what she’d end up doing. Her junior year was staring in a few months, maybe she’d find a job, or volunteer somewhere…thinking about all those things made her head hurt.

 _Stop thinking about it_.

She forced herself to focus on her television. Her mom had gone out with some friend and Lucy had been left alone. Currently, she was sitting on her couch watching serial killer documentaries on Netflix, and was starting to see creepy things outside her window. Her hands were sweaty from imagining being killed by a serial killer who was probably lurking in her neighborhood.

She was _alone_.

In a _dark_ room.

With only a flimsy lock that protected her from the outside.

Lucy walked slowly to the door and bolted it. Maybe she was starting to _mildly_ regret even thinking about watching this stuff alone. She rushed back to her couch and curled up into a ball, struggling between paying attention and changing the channel.

Her cell phone rang and it startled her, making her jumped in terror.

_Maybe it’s a serial killer…_

She laughed at the thought, a serial killer wouldn’t call before killing their victim... _right_?

The screen flashed and she finally saw it was her best friend, Cara. Lucy jumped as she answered the call, maybe Cara was getting killed by a serial killer and this was her last phone call before she died!

“Hello?” Lucy paused the documentary with her console control.

“Hey, Chi! Guess what? I got a date to the dance! Can you believe it? Me!”

“That’s great?”

“It isn’t just great, it’s miraculous! Oh my god! Now you have to go too! I’ll just find a date for you! It can be a double date!”

Lucy had completely forgotten about the dance and felt utter terror course up her spine at the thought. The dance was tomorrow and the list of people that Cara knew wasn’t so enticing. She loved her friend to death, but her choice of guys wasn’t exactly in line with her own either. Where she liked tall guys, her friend liked short chubby ones, their tastes were nowhere near similar. “No, its fine, Cary. I can just go by myself…”

“Are you sure?” Cara wasn’t the one to give in easily, but Lucy knew that she definitely needed to win this one.

“Yeah, I’m sure, Cary. If anything, I’ll probably find someone there,” she lied knowing that no one who could possibly be there would catch her attention. “Don’t worry about it, OK?”

“Ok, Chi! I’ll see ya there tomorrow!”

“See ya tomorrow!”

 

*** *** ***

THE NEXT DAY

Lucy admired herself in the mirror, she’d taken her time on her makeup, making it as perfect as she could. Her eyeliner was always the most difficult part, but she’d somehow made it look amazing. She was glad for that small miracle.  Her lipstick was a bright red, enough to make her feel confident.  She’d decided on wearing a Hawaiian print maxi dress with gladiator sandals, figuring it’d fit with the summer theme the dance had this time around

This wasn’t her first dance, but she felt excited to be going anyway, having an opportunity to see Cara and have fun with her always put her in a good mood. She checked herself in the mirror again and smiled. Her hair needed a little hairspray, but other than that she looked perfect.  

A few minutes later, Lucy and her mom went to the car. “Wow, you look so pretty!” Her mom took a few pictures of her with her cell, making Lucy feel embarrassed. “What time do you want me to pick you up?”

“Can I let you know? I’m not sure what time I want to leave yet,” Lucy put her seatbelt on, the dance started at eight and ended at twelve. That was enough time to have a bit of fun, but she didn’t really know if she’d even want to be there for five hours.

“Okay sweetie,” her mom drove and they made small talk on the way.

Not long before reaching her school, Lucy’s heart was starting to beat faster. She was feeling nervous and she didn’t like it.

“Thanks mom,” she said, once they arrived and closed the car door, making her way to some lunch tables by the gym. The school looked eerie in the dark, but it also held and otherworldly feel to it. Lucy checked around for familiar faces, like Cara’s, but the place was almost empty, though she could hear the sounds of laughter coming from the gym’s entrance.

_At least you’re not the first one here…_

Lucy checked her phone for Cara’s text, but there was nothing. No texts, no calls, nothing. She was beginning to worry. If Cara didn’t make it, she’d be left alone. _This sucks._

She tried calling again, but Cara didn’t answer.

_Maybe she’s dancing inside and can’t hear the phone..._

Deciding to go inside, she slowly walked to the entrance. The dance ticket she’d bought last week was in a small pocket of her dress and she gave it to the person at the door.

As she entered the gym Lucy was awed by the skills of the student government with the decorations. It was perfect, she thought, as she made her way inside.

The Summer Fun theme was everywhere, and she giggled as she saw the extent of it. There were yellow beach balls with suns wearing sunglasses on the floor for people to throw around and a photo booth in one corner that had props like a pineapple hat and a palm tree balloon. Posters full of beach scenes decorated the walls. 

The sound of hip hop music roared through the place and she felt the beat course through her body. There were already about fifty people inside but she could see that Cara wasn’t one of them. Embarrassed to be entering alone, she hastily made her way up the stairs to the bleachers. The area had been designated for clubs to sell their snacks to the students during dances and Lucy was glad she could sit and eat while she waited for Cara. At least, she hoped Cara would make it soon. She looked below and felt a pang of irritation that Cara wasn’t here yet.

Lucy checked her phone again, but there was nothing.

“Did you get stood up?” A girl with pretty blue hair made her way to Lucy. She was carrying some juice boxes and cookies in her hands. She looked welcoming and nice, Lucy felt an immediate liking to her. She remembered seeing her in some of her classes but had never really talked to her then.

“It’s Juvia, right?” She asked her, hoping she’d guessed right.

The girl smiled at her and said, “Yeah! You’re… umm…” Her forehead wrinkled as she tried to remember, “Lucy, right?”

“Yeah,” Lucy smiled as she patted the space next to her, “would you like to join me?”

“Sure,” Juvia offered a juice box to her as she opened a packet of Oreos. “So _did_ you get stood up?”

“Thanks,” she poked the yellow straw into the small hole in the pouch. “Oh no, at least I don’t _think_ I did,” she took a sip and sighed, it was her favorite flavor. “I’m waiting for my friend but she’s not answering my calls.”

Juvia’s eyes widened, “Oh! Well, have you tried texting her?” She munched on a cookie, “maybe she’s showering and can’t answer?”

Lucy checked her phone and gasped, a text from Cara had just come in.

**Cara: Sorry, but I won’t be able to go :(**

Lucy felt a mix of anger and panic at her friend’s text. She hadn’t even called earlier to let her know. It felt like she’d been punched in the gut. They’d planned this since school had ended last semester and Cara wasn’t coming.

**Lucy: Why? Are you ok?**

**Cara: I got sick and I can’t make it ( >  x  . x)>**

**Cara: I’m so sorry Lucy, I’ll make it up to you!**

**Lucy: Don’t worry about it. Ok?**

**Cara: I’m so sorry Chi! I love u boo!**

**Lucy: Hope you feel better soon! x**

Lucy put her phone on silent as she looked up to see Juvia staring at her. “That was my friend and she’s not coming…” Lucy’s eyes watered at the thought. She’d been left hanging on a dance she’d wanted to share with her friend.

“Why? What happened?” Juvia’s worry was making Lucy feel bad about being such a mood killer.

“She says she’s sick, so I guess I’ll just go home,” she drank her juice and looked down at the dance floor.

“Wait! Oooh! I have a plan!” Juvia gasped as she jumped in her seat and Lucy wiped her eyes. “You can hang out with me!” She wrapped an arm around Lucy and jumped again. Her big locks bounced as she laughed. “This is perfect!”

“Are you sure?” Lucy wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay anyway.

“Yeah, c’mon, you already paid for the ticket. And I like you, so you’re my new bestie!” Juvia hugged Lucy and passed a few cookies her way. “Lucy, you’re gonna have loads of fun with me!”

Deciding Juvia had a point, Lucy made her mind up to stay and texted her mom to let her know about the new developments through a text.

“Okay,” she finally looked up to Juvia, “let’s do it.””

“Oooh!” A song that Juvia obviously liked came on and she grabbed Lucy’s arm. “Let’s go, I love this one!”

*** *** ***

They danced for a while, enjoying the mix of top hits with oldies. Juvia was a fun dancer and her carefree grace was infectious. Lucy couldn’t help but compare Juvia with Cara. They were different and it was refreshing really, Cara wasn’t one to dance so much to songs she thought were lame and dumb. In contrast, Juvia liked anything and everything they played.

“Lucy!” Juvia stopped mid-song as she tugged on Lucy’s arms. “Let’s go to the restroom!”

They made their way through the crowd, it was getting stuffy and Lucy was starting to feel thirsty. As she neared the door, a beach ball bounced on Lucy’s head and she giggled. “Are you thirsty?” She asked Juvia as they both waited for the stalls to empty.

“Yeah,” Juvia checked her phone and grinned. “Oh, that’s my Gray, he says he’s almost here!” Juvia looked at Lucy. “Oh! I have a boyfriend, y’know. I bet you’ll like each other, he reminds me a little bit of you.”

“Really?” Lucy was curious as to what Gray was like. She’d only seen him here and there on campus, they didn’t share any classes the past two years so he was just some guy who shared the same school with Lucy.

“Yeah, and he went to go pick up his cousin, so now you won’t have to be a third wheel, don’t worry about that,” Juvia winked to her as they both walked to the two stalls.

“I’ve only known him a bit. He’s this really firebrand type of guy but he’s secretly a sweetheart. Sounds like a little too much, if y’know what I mean. I’ve never danced with him but I hope he’s a good dancer, though. For you, I mean, and if he doesn’t dance with you then I’ll dance with you the whole time,” Juvia laughed inside the stall as Lucy tried not to chuckle while she did her business. She had no idea what Juvia was _meaning._ But talking to her while they both peed was turning out to be funnier than anything she’s ever done at a dance.

Failing to stay serious, Lucy laughed across the stall. “Oh my god, Juvia! I think I peed myself a little bit!” She joked and cackled at the thought of Juvia ignoring her boyfriend for Lucy, a girl who she’d barely met. “I can’t believe we’ve never really talked before this…”

“I know, I can’t either…”

“Here, give me your phone,” Juvia took it from her and pressed some numbers. “This is my number, now we can talk all the time!”

Once they finished in the restroom they returned to the dancefloor. “Well, Lucy, I’m serious,” Juvia screamed over the music. ”You’re my bestie right? We girls have to stick together,” she winked at her, “Just like Bey says.”

When the song ended, they left the dancefloor, remembering their parched throats, and went to get drinks on the Bleachers as Juvia talked to Gray on the phone. “They’re here,” she gasped and motioned to the bleacher stairs and Lucy caught sight of them. Juvia ran to her boyfriend as the cousin stood with his hands in his pockets. He looked hard and unwelcoming and Lucy was starting to feel nervous. If she was left as the third wheel she’d leave immediately. No reason for her to suffer through-she checked her cell- three hours of awkwardness.

Juvia pushed the guys toward Lucy and she waved at them, smiling nervously at the perpetual strangers.

“Lucy, this is Gray and this is Natsu,” she hugged Gray and pushed him back to stair entrance. “Well, I’m going to enjoy my darling while I can still dance,” she pointed at Natsu who arched his eyebrows like a kid who’d been caught stealing by his mother. “Natsu, be nice…” They left and Lucy looked at her last lifeline, the awkwardness surrounded them.

“So, uuuh, do you come here?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled as he made his way to the food table and bought a bunch of snacks. He went back to Lucy and sat in a bench behind Lucy and she twisted herself to face him.  

Lucy thought for a moment, she’d never seen him before. But, it _was_ a big school, so maybe she was thinking too much about it.

“Here,” he passed a few snacks to her. “I’m gonna be honest here and tell you I’m just here ‘cause my cousin forced me to.”

She almost chuckled at his confession. “And I’m just here because my friend told me to, but it’s not like she even came anyway,” she smiled at him, her hurt poisoned her words.

He sucked in his breath, “That’s cold. Did you at least get to tell her she sucks?”

“No, she said she was sick,” Lucy touched her phone without thinking… “It just sucks, y’know? To have the one person who you care about just break their promise. And I know being sick is a valid reason, but still. It sucks...”

“Yeah, I know how that feels,” he munched on a cookie and looked at her. “So how exactly did you end up with Juvia anyway?”

Lucy explained the events of the night to Natsu, making jokes here and there, his laugh made her feel so much better. They talked about everything and nothing, she’d sneak a peek at him when he wasn’t looking, he was just so different from all the guys she knew, like a breath of fresh air.

The lights in the gym suddenly dimmed and she felt a rush of excitement course through her. He leaned forward, closer to her, almost face to face, she could smell him. He smelled so good, she wanted to lean toward him and take in a deep breath.

She forced herself to stay still and focus on his clothes, _anything_ to distract herself. It was a mistake. He was wearing a dress shirt and dark jeans with a scarf. She could see the different textures of his clothes, his scarf looked soft to the touch. His cherry blossom hair framed his face, her fingers itched to touch it. This lighting made him look so enticing, it took her breath away. His eyes, dark and mysterious bore into her, and she tried to look away, but he came closer…. and closer…

“That’s good,” something flashed in his eyes before spoke and broke the spell between them as he grabbed the trash they’d accumulated and went to throw it away.

Lucy stared at the wall, mentally berating herself for being such a dunce.

“Do you wanna dance?” Natsu stretched his hand out to her and she grabbed his hand before she chickened out. Her heart fluttered at his touch.

Once they made it down, he grabbed her, his warmth enveloped her as they started dancing. It was a slow song, her nerves were getting to her.

“Hey,” Natsu looked down at her, “just relax, it’s just you and me,” he smiled and she blushed. “Here, put your head on my shoulder.”

Lucy complied and finally relaxed a bit, she hoped he wouldn’t notice her sweat or the pounding of her heart. He squeezed her hand in reassurance as he guided them around the floor. He was a good dancer, she’d give him that.

She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of being in someone’s arms. It was comforting, she’d never felt like this before. He hummed to the song and she smiled, he probably knew how to sing too. She wondered how that sounded.

“Luce, do you want to go outside?”

“Hmm?” She hadn’t noticed the song had ended and they were standing still as the DJ played quicker song. “Y..yeah,” she shook her head to cleared her thoughts, “let’s go.”

Natsu held her hand as he led her outside. It was fresh outside the gym, the wind cooled them as they walked around with no clear objective in mind. She wondered…

“Have you seen the path by the fountain at night?” Lucy asked him, wondering if he knew what she was silently asking of him. There weren’t that many people who knew that it was a favorite spot among couples during dances.

“No, but I’d like to see it,” he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. There were a few people around, but Lucy didn’t care. Something about this moment felt energetic and frantic, she didn’t _want_ to care who saw them.

They reached the path and gasped at the sight. It looked surreal, the lamps were dim, giving a blue-white glow to the trees. Rushing water sounded from the fountain, loud and steady, as the crickets chirped somewhere nearby. The scent of flowers was in the air, sweet and pleasant and Lucy looked at Natsu. He pulled her to a small clearing next to a mural and he pressed himself against her. He lightly grabbed her shoulder and pushed her against the wall, she turned her head to give him access and he suckled on her neck.

“Natsu,” she whispered his name, “I…”

He kissed her then and she saw stars, her mind went blank as she felt the intensity of the moment within her. Her first kiss… It was nothing like she’d imagined it.

“You’re so beautiful, Luce,” he pressed his lips lightly to hers, butterfly kisses that tingled. She didn’t know what to do with her arms, she worried if she was even doing everything right.

“Don’t think,” he whispered as he kissed her, his hands roamed down her body as his tongue delved into her mouth, exploring her.

She moaned as he deepened their kiss and he joined her. Her thoughts turned to mush as he taught her how to kiss, how to savor the feeling, the tastes, the sounds, everything.

Her hips moved to their own rhythm as he pressed himself against her, she didn’t know how far she’d let herself go, but she knew what was happening now was good enough.

“Natsu… please…” She didn’t know what she was asking him but she knew he could give it to her.  

He fisted her hair as she tried to catch her breath… 

She fisted his hair, it was as softer than she'd imagined...

_Ring_

His phone.

_Ring_

He stopped touching her hair and pulled himself back.

_Ring._

He grabbed his phone and checked the ID.

_Ring._

“You should probably take that,” Lucy righted herself and stepped to the side.

_Ring._

“Hello?” Natsu turned his back to her and took a few steps forward. “Yeah, no… what? No! I swear, I’m not… Wendy. I’ll be there soon. Just don’t worry… hey, love you, ok?”

Lucy held her breath as something inside her broke into tiny pieces.

_He has a girlfriend…_

_What the hell have you done?_

_Oh my god._

_How could I…?_

Embarrassment, horror and utter shame coursed through her at the thought of what she’d just done. She did the only thing that felt right. She ran as fast as she could to the school exit, ignoring his shouts for her to wait. She dialed her mom’s number, hoping she’d pick her up as soon as she could.

She’d text Juvia later, telling her some lie….

Her vision blurred…

“Hello?” her mom answered.

“Mom, pick me up right now, please…” Lucy whispered, hoping her mom would understand.

“I’m nearby sweetie, be there in two minutes.”

Lucy ran outside to the sidewalk and hid under a tree, hoping that she’d have time to calm down. Her mind was overwhelmed, she could barely think a clear thought as her emotions overcame her. Suddenly, a small stream of clarity shone through the clouds in her mind. This was good, it was a lesson she had to learn…

 

*** *** ***

A FEW DAYS LATER

“Lucy… I’m tired of this,” Cara said as she looked at Lucy. They last day of sophomore year had come and they were finally free. They were outside the school gates as the rest of their classmates left for their own summer freedom.

“Tired of what?” She asked Cara as they stopped near the exit.

“This school. I’m tired of it. Look,” she looked around for something, “I’m moving schools…I’m going where Alan is and I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

Lucy felt numb, her friend was leaving her and she didn’t really know what to do next. She was going to be left completely alone. Again. No, not again… she couldn’t believe it…

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” She asked Cara, the one person she thought would confide in her in something as important as this.

“Because, I’m tired of this,” she spread her arms out and pointed at nothing. “I’m tired of having to defend you, when they talk shit about you. You know, I tried really hard to protect you, even if you tell me that you don’t care. You know what? I did care. And now I’m tired. I’m so so tired, Lucy. I’m tired of _your_ shit. The baggage you force me to carry. I’m tired of having to be there for you when you’re not there for me. I have Alan and he’s all I need now.”

_What the fuck?_

Lucy couldn’t believe where all this was coming from. “What the fuck are you talking about Cara?” She took a deep breath and paused, a guy was making his way toward them. “I never forced you to protect me! Why would you even care about the bullshit people spew anyway?”

Ignoring her question, Cara beamed at the guy who had walked toward them. Lucy had never seen him before, but she had a feeling…

“Hey,” he suddenly wrapped his arm around Cara and Lucy knew _exactly_ who he was.

“You know what, Cara. Have a nice life,” she walked away and didn’t look back. It hurt, but she knew this was another lesson she had to learn...

 


	6. The first meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first meeting doesn't go as Lucy thought it would.

**THE FIRST MEETING**

It was the first meeting of MESCO and Lucy was feeling a little nervous. She had arrived a little early to get a feel for the people who would be her teammates but the only ones who were there were a boy who looked like he was too old to be a high schooler and a girl who looked like she was ready to hit him for some reason.

Lucy sat in a desk toward the center of the room and the couple sat in front of her as they waited for Mr. Jude to return from some quick errands he said he had to run.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this shit again this year, Lev. Remind me, how did I fall for this again?” The boy with long black hair and a crazy amount of face piercings stuck his tongue out.

The girl playfully hit him on the shoulder and chuckled. “Because you promised me and you’re such a liar Gajeel, you know you like it.” She poked his nose and Lucy looked away, feeling embarrassed for some reason.

“So how did Jude end up wrangling you into this nightmare?” Gajeel turned completely around on his seat to face Lucy. “Did he blackmail you or somethin’?

“No,” Lucy said as she blushed, “he told me that there were two spots left and my mom said I could do it.” It hadn’t taken long to get her to agree since Lucy’s needed something to do afterschool and this, in both of their minds, was a good place to start. “So how many of us are there?” She wondered who the other person was going to be and whether she would be good enough to be _in_ the team.

Levi crinkled her eyebrows as she counted the people in her head. “I think this time around we can have five people. It’s gonna be me, Gajeel, you, some kid named Freed and some other guy, or girl, I don’t know. Haven’t met them yet.”

“Damn,” Gajeel mumbled under his breath. “Freed is in this year too, why didn’t you tell me?” He looked to Levi, betrayal in his face.

“What is it?” Lucy asked Levi for some form of clarification.

Levi wrinkled her nose. “It’s just that--”

“Did you know pheromones are the body’s way of letting potential mates know that you’re fertile and ready to procreate?” Suddenly, a boy with striking green hair walked into the classroom as Gajeel groaned.

“Really?” Levi asked him as she patted Gajeel’s shoulder to console him. “Did you read that somewhere?”

“Don’t encourage him,” Gajeel interjected as Levi chuckled at his frustration. “He’s gonna multiply and then what’ll we do?”

“Multiplication is actually synonymous with procreation. _That_ is also considered the primary force of evolution, so the possibility of procreation for me in the future is pretty high. I shall consider it once I find the necessary income to live in comfort.”

“Please shut him up, Levi,” Gajeel ground his teeth and put his palms to his forehead. “He’s giving me a headache.”

“I have an ibuprofen tablet in my backpack if you’re in pain,” Freed twisted his backpack around to open it, completely missing Gajeel’s sarcasm by the size of an astronomical unit. Lucy struggled to contain her laughter at the spectacle.

“Freed,” Levi laughed and somehow found a way to distract him from his current train of thought. “This is Lucy, she’ll be one of our new teammates.”

Lucy gave a lukewarm hand wave as Freed looked at her with an intensity that made her feel uncomfortable for a moment.  
“Lucy is the feminine form of Lucius, which is Latin for “deriving of light”. Apropos as your hair is reminiscent of light itself.” He hesitantly extended his hand to her and she took it. “I’m Freed Justine. Thanks for joining the team.”

Shocked at his gratitude, Lucy blushed as Freed sat to her right and started getting his laptop out of his backpack, making her feel completely unprepared. She didn’t have a personal laptop. Did she need one?

Suddenly, Mr. Jude returned from wherever he had gone to, sweat trickled down his face and his breaths were labored and heavy.

“Did you run across campus, dude? Gajeel asked him. “You’re getting too old for that shit.”

“Shut up, Gajeel.” Levi swatted his arm as Mr. Jude chuckled.

He did look like he’d run across campus, sweat was trickling down his face and Lucy hoped a medical emergency wouldn’t happen right now.

“Sorry about that kids,” he gasped for breath as he shuffled the stacks of paper he had brought with him. “I was held up by the copy machine. It decided today was a good day to jam and I had to run around looking for the guy that fixes them.”

“You coulda just called us, man,” Gajeel said as he took out his own laptop. “I bet we could’ve fixed it in seconds.”

Freed nodded emphatically to Lucy’s right and she didn’t doubt their abilities. They sounded like they knew their stuff, even more than she did and she felt a little out of place.

“I’ll consider it next time,” Mr. Jude said as he looked around the room, “I see we’re missing one person, he told me he’d be a little late, so let’s get started.” He walked to them and handed out big stacks of papers.

“So it’s a he?” Levi said as Mr. Jude approached her.

“Yes it is, and he’s a transfer student so I want you all to not scare him off like you did the others.”

“What do you mean by ‘scare them out’?” Lucy cut in as he gave her the packets.

“Didn’t he tell you?” Gajeel said, amusement in his face. “The two idiots that left and you’re replacing almost got their asses killed by Freed’s robot.”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration but long story short,” Levi whispered, “they didn’t follow safety precautions and they got sort of freaked ou--.”

Freed snapped out of his concentration and said, “They didn’t read my safety manual and the blades almost cut their arms off.”

“What?” Lucy felt a little scared for a moment as Freed pulled a video on his laptop.

“Here,” he angled his laptop to show her, “this is my robot from last competition and this is the blade. It’s not as big as I wanted it to be, Mr. Jude advised against it. But it did win us that part of the competition.”

Mr. Jude chose that moment to interrupt. “On that note, I talked to the MESCO committee and they said the blades are banned this year.”

Freed groaned as Mr. Jude passed him the packets.

“Now let’s get started,” Mr. Jude continued. “I brought you all these study packets. Some of them are from last year to get an idea of what you’ll be facing once competition comes. I made a new one for the computer science section since there weren’t any packets last year. And this time around, since the competition is brand new, they changed things up a bit, so you’ll get to choose the science subject portion. It could be Physics, Biology, Chem or even Astronomy. Mathematics will the same for all of you and it will go all the way up to Pre-Calc. The Engineering will have a simple make your own solar powered vehicle which will be judged by a certain criteria. And we have the coding competiti—”

“Sorry I’m late Mr. Jude,” a voice called out from the hall as its owner rushed in through the door. A flash of pink hair crossed through Lucy’s peripheral and she swore she could feel liquid fire rush up to her face. It was just great. It’s like he was everywhere she looked,  like a mosquito that would come back at the worst time to buzz near her face.

“It’s fine, Natsu. We just started, so you came just in time,” he gave Natsu his own set of packets as he walked in. “Please take a seat next to Lucy and I’ll explain a little bit more.”

“Uhhh,” Natsu hesitated as surprise spread across his face when he saw her. “Ok,” he made his way to sit to her left.

“Like I said earlier, you’ll have Math, Engineering with a small solar powered vehicle. A coding competition and Astronomy for the science part. The last part will be a literature.”

“Oooh!” Levi exclaimed as she jumped up in her seat. “What type of literature?”

“It’s Shakespeare this time,” Mr. Jude said while Gajeel groaned loud enough to probably wake the whole neighborhood.  

“I love Shakespeare!” Levi exclaimed excitedly. “Last time was hard because Russian literature and all that. YAY!”

Gajeel rolled his eyes and said, “Yes, we know…”

Freed frantically typed on his laptop, the clickety clack along with Natsu’s proximity was starting to make Lucy’s head hurt. A teeny bit.

Natsu leaned on his chair and raised his hand before saying, “So when exactly is this all going down again?”

“The competition will be when you’re on summer vacation, so that gives us plenty of time to study and prepare. But as it gets closer, I hope you can all commit to coming to study more frequently here in my class and outside of school too.”

Natsu looked at Lucy and gave her a wink, embarrassed that he caught her looking at him, she quickly brought her cell phone out to look up if anyone had messaged her. Nope. Nothing. It wasn’t that surprising but a message would be a good distraction.

“So you mean we’re gonna be spending a lot of our time at these meetings later on?” Natsu asked as he rifled through the packets.

“Yes, and I hope you put in all the time you can because last time we didn’t do as well as we should have,” Mr. Jude replied.

“Yeah, it was those two betrayers who really messed our scores,” Gajeel said as he turned around to face Natsu. “So if you mess this up, you’re out.”

“He’s just kidding,” Mr. Jude chuckled. “With you two, I have no doubt our scores will go up, so don’t worry.”

Lucy finally looked through the packets, they were thick and full of concepts that she had no clue what they meant. But when she got to the Astronomy packet and saw the beautiful star charts, the Uranometria and even an ephemeris, a rush of excitement filled her. She felt a tiny sense of gratitude that at least in one subject she wouldn’t suck so much.  

Mr. Jude started writing something on the white board behind him. They stayed for another hour going over who they would be competing with and what they should read for the next meeting

“Ok, then. Let’s call it a day,” Mr. Jude finally said. “I think that copier sucked a few years out of me.” He chuckled at his own joke as everyone put their packets and other belongings inside their backpacks.  “I’ll give you until next meeting to pick your science subject if you like.”

“I know I want chemistry for sure,” Natsu said as he packed up his things. Gajeel followed and chose physics, Levi chose biology and Freed also picked physics.

Gajeel let out a noise which Lucy would guess was between a chuckled and a groane. “Well, I know I’m gonna at least be second place now.”

“Why?” Natsu asked.

 Freed gave a small sinister smile to them before saying, “Because he always loses to me.”

“It’s true,” Levi said as she giggled. “They are always toe to toe in these things but Freed is always a fraction ahead during competition.”

Gajeel scoffed. “It’s because he always does that _thing_ with his stupid facts before we go in to compete and then my mind gets all confused.”

“So?” Freed teased Gajeel and Levi widened her eyes in shock.

“Have you been watching those movies I gave you?”

“Maaaaybeeeee…” Freed drew the word a little too long and everyone, including Mr. Jude laughed. “I made a chart of conversations in several of the films and found a common variable for a ‘teasing’ answer.”

“We’ll have to work on that one,” Levi mumbled as they all made their way out of the classroom.

They all made their way outside and Mr. Jude closed the classroom door and asked them if they had a way to go home. They all mumbled yes and he walked with them for a few minutes before going toward the teacher’s parking lot.

The sky was getting dark and Lucy checked her phone. The meeting had been longer than she thought it would be and she texted her mom to see if she could get picked up. She didn’t think she could walk home with the heavy packets in her backpack anyway.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Natsu quickly typed something on his phone and left the group, walking the opposite direction. Lucy felt a sting of _something_ as she saw him walk away, his scarf billowed in the wind as he briskly moved way out of sight. She had tried hard to not notice his presence and now that he was gone, she felt it more than ever.

“Want us to give you a ride, Freed?” Levi asked, breaking Lucy’s thoughts, as she held Gajeel’s hand. Freed nodded as he struggled to carry his packets in his arms. A few football players ran past them and one of them helped Freed pick up a packet that had fallen.

“Do you need help?” A broad shouldered scary looking guy with blond hair asked Freed as he jogged beside them.  
“Uhh, it’s fine,” Freed scrambled to move next to Levi, like a scared kitten who just came across a terrifying demon.

“Yeah, it’s fine Laxus. Thanks for the offer though,” Levi cut in as she waved the blond goodbye. “Do you have a ride home?” She suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Lucy, who had been trailing them without thinking.

“No, I’m sure my mom will pick me up,” Lucy reassured her. “She’s just probably getting off work.”

“Are you sure?” Gajeel asked with concern in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Lucy quickly replied, feeling a little embarrassed for their concern. It wasn’t every day that a classmate actually offered to give her a ride home.

“Okay, but if anything, let us know,” Levi said as she passed Lucy a piece of paper with her phone number on it.

“Okay.”

 

*** *** ***

 

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER

Lucy took a deep breath, her mom had finally called her a few minutes ago to tell her the car had messed up at the Easy Buy’s parking lot and she wouldn’t be able to pick her up.

It was a disaster. No, Lucy thought, it was just a small inconvenience. Her mom did a lot and she could walk home quickly and get there without someone attacking her. It was gonna be fine.

She thought of calling Levy but then brushed the thought away. Telling them to come back from wherever they were now would be embarrassing as hell.

 _Yeah, it’s better to just walk it._ The sun wasn’t completely down so she still had a little sunlight left. It wouldn’t be so bad.

About two blocks from school, the packets started to feel heavy and she struggled to keep them in her arms. She had put a few of them in her backpack but the flimsy thing was adding pressure on her back.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she struggled to grab it with her hands full. Deciding to ignore it, she kept walking as fast as she could.

A gust of wind pushed her back a step and she gave a sigh as she realized the walk back home was going to be a long one. She had made it about twenty or so steps when she heard someone call out to her from a car; a gust of wind distorted the voice and Lucy felt panic start to bubble up inside her.

A black car stopped next to her and someone started to honk and she had a feeling it was honking at her. Her heart suddenly started racing in fear. She started to walk the opposite way to make it difficult for the car to follow her, her backpack wasn’t making it easy. As she made it to the end of the block, the black car had somehow caught up to her.

“Hey Lucy, want a ride?” Natsu shouted across from the driver seat and she found herself imagining him with a stupid little grin on his face. Lucy just couldn’t catch a break now could she?

“Didn’t you have somewhere to be?” The snarky comment felt half assed as it left her lips. “I think I can walk by myself, thanks.” Her back was killing her and she almost regretted rejecting the offer. Almost. She could imagine the awkwardness already. She waited for a moment for the crossing light to change just as he opened the passenger door to the car.

“C’mon, I insist, get in or I’ll get out of the car and start dancing just to embarrass you.”

Lucy’s mouth opened to give him a piece of her mind, but she thought better of it.

“Fine,” she finally said, “But if you try anything weird I’ll slap you.” She sat in the passenger seat and sighed in relief as she dumped her packets by her feet. The car had leather seats and it had that new car smell that she liked. It looked brand new and she wondered what kind of parent would let their teenage kid use a brand new car like this one. Her mom’s car had been an old hand me down that was always messing up and being in a new car always felt like a small little slice of Christmas to her.

“Where to?” Natsu’s voice interrupted the subtle deep breath she had tried to sneak in. “Home or what?”

“Yeah,” Lucy said, her brain wasn’t working, this whole situation was way out of her capacity. “Uhh, I live by Bradley and King.”

“Okay,” he looked at her and she quickly turned to face the road. They weren’t moving yet, but having him so close made her remember things that she’d tried so hard not to remember.

He sneaked a quick peek at his phone for a moment before saying, “Do you mind if I run a quick errand?”

She couldn’t think as she kept thinking of his eyes. How they’d been back then, how they made her remember those things. And how those things had almost ruined her life. _What the hell brain? What is wrong with you? Why are you doing this?! Say something!_

She mumbled something that she couldn’t remember ten seconds later and they made their way to wherever Natsu drove them to.

“So why did you choose Astronomy?” He asked her as she pretended to do something important with her cell. Her mom had texted her that the car had been towed and that she had called a friend to pick her up.

“I love Astronomy,” she smiled at the memories of getting her first telescope from her mom when she was in fifth grade. It had taken her mom so long to raise the money for it and Lucy had treasured it like nothing else. “It’s something I can’t describe, like my heart knows that it was meant for me…” She looked at Natsu and studied his features as he drove. He looked different as the headlights flashed in his face, more solemn and sad.

“I know what you mean,” he whispered as he turned to face her and Lucy broke the eye contact at the intensity in his gaze. He cleared his throat and then said, “Give me a sec and I’ll be right back.”

Lucy nodded as he left the car and returned a few minutes later. He could see his silhouette in the distance as he walked back, a little girl with beautiful blue hair in a ballet dress was holding his hand.

He opened the back passenger door and he lifted her to a booster seat in the back. “There you go, now what do you do?”

“I grab the metally part and then make sure it clicks in place,” the girl mumbled as she did just that.

“Good, now this is Lucy,” Natsu pointed to her and Lucy gave a small wave to the girl.

The girl waved back. “Hi, Lucy,” she said as Natsu packed a duffel bag on the car floor.

“Lucy, this is my little sis, Wendy,” he closed the door and walked to the driver’s seat.

_Wendy. Wendy. Wendy._

She was his sister. Wendy. Wendy was his sister. She had been completely wrong about him. He wasn’t the man whore she thought he was.

 _Oh no._ _Oh, shit._

“… you live again?” The question didn’t register as Lucy thought of the day at the dance. It had all been a misunderstanding. She felt like a complete idiot.

“Uhhh,” she shook her head to try to clear what this all meant. “On, uh, Bradley and King.”

“Okay.”

“Did you know that my teacher said that I was really good today?” Wendy’s high pitched voice broke Lucy’s trance.  
“You were?” Natsu smiled at his little sister and Lucy almost envied him. She didn’t have any siblings and she wondered what it would have been like if she did.

“Mhmm, and I even got a sticker, look!” Wendy flashed a big happy face sticker that the teacher had put on her hand.

Natsu looked through the rearview mirror before whistling in admiration. “I think I’m a little jealous over here,” he pouted. “I want a sticker now too.”  
“Well you’ll have to be a good student like me to get a sticker and big brother always says you’re a bad student.”

“Zeref was a bad student too!” Natsu chuckled.

“No he wasn’t, he got into college and mom says that only good students go to college.”

“But I _am_ a good student!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Yeuh uh!”

“Nuh uh!”

Natsu slowed the car as they neared the streets Lucy had told him. “Just go a little bit further,” she started to grab her packets. “It’s right here,” she mumbled.

“Let me help you,” he opened his door and rushed to her side. She hesitated at first but then gave him the packets on her lap.

The walk to her apartment wasn’t that far but in that moment it felt like a small eternity. The sun had already set and she could see the stars start to twinkle in the sky.

“So, thanks for the ride,” she rushed to her door to escape the awkwardness as soon as she could.

“No problem,” he mumbled back as he passed the packets back to her. “Can I ask you something?”

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat as she looked up, his eyes were dark and mesmerizing under the doorway light. She felt herself swaying forward, like her body wanted to feel that comfort that she hadn’t felt since then. She almost chuckled aloud at the thought. It was funny, the way her thoughts worked in moments like these. “Yeah,” she finally said as he kept looking at her.

“Do you think you can teach me about Astronomy?”

The question caught her completely off guard and she laughed out loud, covering her mouth from embarrassment at her outburst.

“I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing what the hell she was thinking. “Yeah, I can do that,” she took a deep breath as he smiled at her. Something about the way he stood and smiled at her gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Okay then,” his wide grin made her brain turn to mush.

“Okay then,” she said as she fumbled her way inside. She leaned on the door and smiled.But just as quickly as the warm feeling came, it vanished.

The echoes of a memory lit up in her mind. _He’ll break your heart too._ Lisanna’s warning wound its way through her thoughts and wouldn’t let go no matter how hard she tried.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around. I'll try to update as much as I can! Happy reading!


	7. THE TRIP

 

A FEW WEEKS LATER:

 

“I don’t know about you, but I think they need to get their brains checked out,” Levi mumbled to Lucy as they watched Natsu and Gajeel punch each other’s arms in a game of who-is-the-manliest.

“Well, maybe a lobotomy will work on Natsu, I don’t know about Gajeel though…” Lucy joked back.

“You’re right,” Levi stifled a giggle and sighed. “Hmm… he’s as thickheaded as they come.”

“Do you need help separating them?” Freed walked in through the door.

Lucy was curious at just how Freed would accomplish such a miracle. “How would you do that?”

Without flinching, Freed made his way to the boys and lightly coughed to get their attention. “Did you know a male bedbug impregnates the female by spearing her body and leaving his sperm there?”

Disgust colored Natsu and Gajeel’s faces as Freed continued. “Male bees do a similar thing but they die and lose their special place inside the queens.”

“Oh no…” Gajeel wrinkled his nose. “I know what you’re doing Freed. It’s not gonna work on me this time.”

“What is he doing?” Natsu asked, baffled at the turn of events.

“He’s trying to stop the game…” Gajeel mumbled…

Natsu widened his eyes and grinned. “Does this mean I won?”

“Hell no! I won, don’t you remember?”

“What, I obviously won!! See,” he lifted Gajeel’s sleeve, “I can tell you’re already bruising!”

Just as they were ready to continue their game, Mr. Jude walked in, a smile on with a smile. “So, I have great news! We have been approved to go on our yearly camping trip again!”

“Oooh! I’ll get the planning started!” Levi jumped in excitement as all sat down in their seats.

Lucy raised her hand. “Um, what’s the yearly camping trip Mr. Jude?”

“We usually go around this time of the year to the Tenrou National Park for a weekend to get a taste of nature and to get away from the big city. I’m sure you’ll like it, Lucy.”

“Oh yeah, she’ll definitely like it alright,” Levi grinned at her friend. “We go hiking and play games and do loads of fun stuff!”

“The distance from the light pollution would greatly interest you,” Freed gave Lucy a small grin.

Mr. Jude turned on the projector and showed them pictures from the past camping trips his students had done in the past. Some of them had Levi and Gajeel in them, while others had people Lucy had never seen before. “I have a friend on the campsite that will let us use his deep space telescopes so I’m sure you’ll especially love it,” Mr. Jude said as he scrolled down his files.

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat and smiled at the thought of being able to see things that she’d only dreamed of. Affording a telescope like that, let alone being able to use one was more of a dream than anything else.

“When are we going?” Lucy was too excited to stay still in her seat.

“It’ll be in three weeks so you should all have plenty of time to gather what you need,” Mr. Jude replied.

“Oh,” Natsu finally spoke. “I don’t think I’ll be able to go…”

“Why not?” Lucy found herself whispering without thinking, maybe he didn’t hear her. She hoped he hadn’t. Her eyes sought him on their own and he smiled to her, a small smile that made her heart skip.

“If you need me to talk to your parents, I will…” Mr. Jude said.

“No!” Natsu hesitated for a moment. “Umm… can I tell you after?”

“Okay,” Mr. Jude pulled out permission slips from his desk and passed them out. “Here is the permission slip. Give it to me by the end of the week. I hope you can all go, and if you think you can’t, then I’ll do as much as possible to get you there. It’s a great opportunity that I hope you can all share with each other. It’s a really fun trip. Right, Levi?”  


“Oh yeah, we even get to make s’mores over a fire and I get to boss you all around for a weekend.”

Just then, Gajeel groaned. “Yeah, I’m still not over last time. Thanks, Mr. Jude.”

“What did she do?” Natsu asked with a look of horror in his eyes.

“She made us do all the dirty work for her, that’s what she did,” Gajeel replied.

Natsu looked at Freed. “Is this true?”

“Mhmm,” Freed looked down his lap, shame in his face.

Levi rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t my fault the car stalled on us! Don’t be such a sissy!” She lightly punched Gajeel on his arm, the same arm that Natsu had punched earlier.

“Ouch! That hurts! Why are you always hurting me?!” Gajeel pouted at Levi.

“Because you’re such a big baby!” Levi poked him in the same place several times as Gajeel inched his chair a bit farther from little by little. “Besides, it wasn’t that far from the main road!”

Gajeel scoffed. “It was well over one mile there! In the hot sun… with no air conditioner or cold water! Were you trying to get us killed?!”

Levi folded her arms and pouted. “Maybe next time you should actually take the better car!”

“I already told you, my baby wasn’t ready for such a long trip!”

“Well maybe your _baby_ will make you my special s’mores this time around!”

Mr. Jude interrupted the couple’s argument. “The school has ordered that we all go in one car this time around so we’ll be taking my SUV, so no crazy car stories this time around. Sorry kids.”

“Niiiiiice,” Gajeel grinned. “Can I drive it?”

“Absolutely not,” Mr. Jude frowned and then chuckled.

 

***   ***   ***

Lucy was finally home after a long lecture on angles and variables and other things. Her head was starting to pound from all the homework she knew she had due by the end of the week. It felt like a big blob of worry in the back of her mind. But the thought of being able to go on the camping trip kept her spirits high.

“Mom,” she made her way to the kitchen where her mom was making spaghetti for dinner. “Can I go on a field trip?”

“Where?”

“Tenrou National Park?”

“When?”

Lucy hugged her from behind and showed her the field trip slip she’d been holding in her hand since she arrived.

“Three days?” Her mom frowned. “That’s a really long time…”  
“I know. But I really want to go… Please mom. I’ll do all the chores for a month!”

“You already do all your chores,” she laughed as she grabbed the slip. “Will there be boys?”

“It’s with MESCO, so… yeah?”

“And how are you going to get there?”

“In Mr. Jude’s car.”

“Hmm, I have to think about this…” She hesitated. “You’ve never been on a trip this long.”

“I know but it’s not _that_ long. It’s only three days! Please, please, please!” Lucy started jumping.

“Oh, alright! But you have to call me every day and take pretty pictures with your friends for me.”

“Okay,” she kissed her mom on the cheek before going to her room to let Levi know the good news…

 

*** *** ***

THE FIRST DAY OF TENROU

The day had finally come and Lucy felt her anxiety shoot through the roof. What if her mom got hurt when she was away? What if their car got in a crash? What if there was an emergency? What if she forgot something important and couldn’t get a replacement?

“Do you have everything, honey?” Her mom walked into her room with a reusable bag in her hand. “Your toothbrush?”

Lucy nodded.

“Your homework?”

“Yeah, I think I have everything,” she mumbled as she grabbed the duffel bag with all her things.

“You’ll be fine,” her mom hugged her, sensing Lucy’s hesitation and anxiety at the thought of leaving their small apartment for a place that was more than a hundred miles away. “Here,” she gave Lucy the bag. “There’s snacks in here for you and your friends and this,” she handed her daughter money, “this is for you to spend.”

Lucy nodded as her eyes watered, knowing she’ll miss her mom most of all. “Love you mom,” they hugged for a moment before her cell phone rang. It was Levi.

“Hello?” Lucy answered, struggling to juggle her things in her hands.

“Hey, we’re almost there!”

“Okay,” Lucy walked to her front door, her mom grabbed her thick sleeping bag on the floor beside it.

“We’re here!” Levi screamed, making Lucy’s ears hurt for a moment. A succession of honks came from outside as she opened the door and Mr. Jude and Gajeel made their way over to help her.

“I’ll take that,” Gajeel grabbed Lucy’s duffel.

“Thanks,” Lucy walked to the car as Mr. Jude and her mom talked.

“Hi! Levi, Freed!” At the sight of Levi’s excitement, Lucy couldn’t help but feel excited as well. Freed sat in the shotgun seat as he said a quick hello while typing something on his laptop.

“There’s a twenty percent chance of rain today, much less than a week ago, so that’s optimal.” Freed looked to Lucy and gave her a stunning grin. “You’ll be able to see some of the outer planets after all.”

Levi jumped out of the car to help Lucy and Gajeel put her things in the trunk. “Did you hear?” she whispered and then hit her forehead. “Of course you didn’t!”

“Hear what?” Lucy asked, completely at a loss for what Levi was talking about.

“Mr. Jude had a fight with Natsu’s dad yesterday it was pretty ugly. I mean, I wasn’t there but…” Levi gasped and then got close to Lucy’s ear to whisper. “Natsu’s not gonna go…”

“Oh…” Lucy gave Levi a small smile.

“Well,” Mr. Jude walked to the car with Lucy’s mom at his side. “Let’s go.”

“Be careful sweetie, and have fun. Okay?” Her mom hugged her before Lucy made her way into the car. It was the nicest car Lucy had ever been inside. It made her mom’s car look and feel as ancient as it probably was. She chose to sit in the back row, where Levi joined her to talk about some of the girls that had been giving her a hard time in P.E. Gajeel sat in front of them while he played on his 3DS.

“Buckle up!” Mr. Jude chuckled as he started the engine and checked his phone for a moment. “We’ll have to make a pit stop so don’t get too impatient on me,” he said as he began driving. “What music do you kids want?” He asked them.

“Classical, Metal, Kpop and anything,” all came from their mouths. Mr. Jude chuckled.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s take turns. I’ll put oldies and then we’ll make our way down on our way there.” They all nodded as Freed decided to calculate how long each playlist would be.

“Where are we going?” Freed asked once he finished, looking up from his laptop with horror on his face. “I have to include that in the calculations for the playlists…”

“This wasn’t in the plan…” Levi mumbled just as Freed said the exact same thing.

“Damn, you guys are scary…” Gajeel muttered back at them.

“I have to pick something important. Don’t worry,” he said, “It won’t take long.”

The streets started to blend together as Lucy looked outside the car window.  She didn’t know this part of town, it looked nothing like the area where the school was. She wasn’t even sure where they were anymore.

“Where are we?” She asked Levi, hoping that her friend knew something about the area.

“We’re where the rich people like to live…” Levi and Gajeel joked.

Mansion looking houses, parking garages with glitzy cars, intricate yard decorations. Did people really live like this? Was that a house with a candelabra hanging from one of the windows? Lucy wondered how people could live with so many things and yet, she and her mom could only afford to live paycheck by paycheck. Some of her things were from the nearest thrift store. She had found her television thrown on the sidewalk one day….

“You know Lisanna, right?” Levi nodded to her. “She lives around here. No idea why she decided to go to our school, but whatever…”

“Imagine having everything handed to you when you’re born… it must be great,” Gajeel said as he finished a Mario Kart lap.

Lucy had dreamed of living in houses like these, like the ones she would see in the shows, or commercials. “No one’s life is perfect…” She whispered as they came to a stop at a fancy looking gray house.

Mr. Jude turned the car off and walked outside to knock on the door.

“It will be about 120-180 minutes to our destination, so it will be 24 minutes of playlist among all five of us,” Freed said.

“I’m good,” Gajeel mumbled as he popped his earphones into his ears. “I’ll spare you guys this time.”

“Thank god,” Levi whispered to Lucy. “His music always gives me a headache.”

“I heard that,” Gajeel screamed over his music. Lucy laughed as Levi hit Gajeel on the head. “Do you want me to change my mind?” Gajeel sucked his teeth, taunting her.

“No, but if you don’t stop playing that stuff around me you’ll have to watch your back from now on.”

“Ooooh, I’m soooo scared,” Gajeel goaded her and stopped as Levi gave him what Lucy thought of as her “Levi death stare”.

In all the commotion in the car, they had all forgotten about Mr. Jude and jumped as the trunk lifted itself. Lucy turned to find dark eyes looking back at her. Her hear beat a staccato and the car felt hot all of a sudden even though the air conditioner was at full blast.

“Hey,” Natsu whispered to her as he dumped his things inside.

“Hey,” she whispered back as she quickly turned to face the front before he lowered the trunk.

They all looked outside to find a scary looking man in a suit outside talking to Mr. Jude. Lucy instantly recognized Wendy in the scary man’s arms.  The conversation was too low for them to be able to hear from in the car and Levi lowered her window a fraction without shame.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Natsu…” The scary looking man mumbled as he ruffled his son’s hair. “If I find out you so much as get your classmates in trouble I’ll tell your mother…”

Natsu’s stiffened as Wendy from her dad’s side. “I’ll miss you big bro,” she hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Be good, okay?” Natsu ruffled Wendy’s hair and then walked to the car. Mr. Jude said his goodbye and started the car as Levi jumped from her seat before Natsu could make it. Lucy’s face instantly felt like it was on fire when she realized what her friend was doing. She struggled to keep her hands from lifting to hide her face from everyone as Natsu opened the door.

“Get in Natsu,” Mr. Jude said as he looked at them through his rearview mirror. “You don’t want to make Freed mad do you?” He joked as Natsu quickly sat in the back row with Lucy.

“What music do you like?” Freed suddenly blurted out.

“What?” Natsu asked, confusion in his voice. “Why?”

“Just answer, idiot!” Gajeel rolled his eyes at him. “Do you want to get the encyclopedia answer or what?”

“Anything!” Natsu almost screamed. “Anything… except country…”

“What’s wrong with Country music?” Gajeel asked, outraged at their hatred.

“Nothing, I just don’t like it…” Natsu shrugged.

Levi laughed. “It is pretty lame…”

“Ugh,” Gajeel opened his DS in anger. “Nononono! _You_ are lame…”

Lucy laughed and Natsu joined in with her. Their laughter rang around them as they locked eyes. This was going to be a looong trip, Lucy thought.


End file.
